


Snow

by SpaceKase



Series: Femslash February 2021 [6]
Category: I Feel Sick (Comic), Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Genre: Adoption, F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Other, Sort Of, but Devi and Tenna come across Todd and let him crash on their couch, it isn't official
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29300880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKase/pseuds/SpaceKase
Summary: "Okay, sooo, don't get mad..."Devi sighed. "Oh, Jeez...what'd you do?"
Relationships: Devi D. d & Todd "Squee" Casil, Devi D./Tenna, Tenna (I Feel Sick) & Todd "Squee" Casil
Series: Femslash February 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139186
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Snow

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen fics where Devi and Nny are together and adopt Squee and a few fics where Edgar and the popular fancharacter Scriabin unofficially adopt Squee, but never one of Devi and Tenna doing the same. 
> 
> Devi strikes me as the sort of person who wouldn't make having babies/kids a big priority, but would probably be all right with like...a troubled teen who was kicked out of his home crashing on her couch. For the sake of simplicity, Todd gets institutionalized when he's ten, then gets out when he's sixteen. I guess that means they got together at around the time Todd was institutionalized?
> 
> This is an idea I like. I might have to come back to it.

It was so strange to Devi that her least favorite season came right after her favorite one. Autumn was beautiful with its changing leaves and comfortable with its not-too-hot, not-too-cold temperature.

Winter, on the other hand, was awful. Falling snowflakes were nice to look at, but the piles of disgusting slush and dangerous ice were a huge pain to walk on and in.

This particular winter day, Devi was in a foul mood. All she wanted after a long, hard day of unsuccessful job searches and trudging through the wet, cold snow was to come home to her apartment with a decent heater and her girlfriend of six years.

Tenna was literally behind the door as Devi opened it. "Heeey, Devi!" Tenna was the sort of person who smiled most of the time, finding the bright side of everything, unlike Devi and her curmudgeonly ways. But the grin she wore was too unnaturally wide, displaying her gums in an insincere way. "How'd, uh...how'd it go?"

"What's wrong, Tenna?" There was no point beating around the bush; it had been a long day and Devi was prepared to cut through any bullshit from anyone.

"Okay, sooo, don't get mad..."

Devi sighed. "Oh, Jeez...what'd you do?"

"Well, I was coming home from work, and I cut through the park. And then, uh..."

Devi gently but firmly pushed past her fiancee, and was greeted with the sight of a third person on their shitty secondhand couch. The boy looked about thirteen or fourteen; his long, gangly limbs were bundled in what Devi recognized as a pair of Tenna's purple pajamas. The boy's face was practically all eye; the impossibly large, dark eyes reminded Devi of those Shelter Dog toys. As they made eye contact, the teenager flinched back further into the couch, letting out a squeak.

"You are...?" Devi raised an eyebrow.

"Todd Casil!" Tenna put a hand on her shoulder. "I found 'im sleepin' on a park bench like a hobo! I, uh..." Devi saw Tenna swallow from the corner of her eye. "Kinda...told him he could stay here? F-for now?"

This was when Devi turned to Tenna, who was smiling her best 'Please don't get mad' smile. It was a look that, much to Devi's chagrin, usually worked on her. "Did you, now?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Come on, Devi, it's snowing outside and he has nowhere to go! I couldn't just leave him there!" Tenna was legitimately pouting now, and Devi cursed herself for finding it cute. "The couch is a pullout; he can sleep there! It's not like he's gonna take up that much room!"

"Hey, um..." The women turned to the sound of the post-pubescent voice. "I really appreciated this, Ms. Tenna. I did. B-but I don't wanna cause any problems for you two..." Damn it all, Devi felt awful for the skinny teenager on her couch.

She sighed. "Look...I don't feel like being the bad guy right now. I've had a bad day, all right? You can stay for the night, Todd; we'll figure out what to do with you in the morning." With that she began the process of removing her wet boots.

"Think that's the best we're gonna get for now, Todd." Tenna apparently thought that Devi hadn't noticed her giving a big thumbs up to the boy. "For now, dinner! What do you feel like?"

"Y...you mean...I can choose?" Todd's impossibly large eyes grew impossibly larger. "No one's...ever asked what I wanted before."

All right; Devi could see why Tenna had brought this stray home with her. "Sure, Kid," she said, hanging her coat and scarf on the rack Tenna had scavenged from some place. She'd closed the door behind her with her sock-wearing foot, not wanting their apartment neighbors to hear their dirty laundry. "Neither of us knows how to cook, so I hope you like takeout."

"Okay." Todd didn't sound too disappointed. Who knew how long he'd gone without food? Devi decided not to think about it. "How about...pizza?"

"Pizza it is!" exclaimed Tenna as she bounded over to their landline. Devi sighed and eagerly flopped down on the couch, just grateful to finally be off her aching, tired feet.

"It's nice to meet you." Devi opened an eye. Todd was giving her a small, strange smile, like he wasn't used to doing it. "Tenna talked about you a lot."

"Oh, really," Devi said rather than asked. "Only good things, I hope?"

"Well, she said you're a grump. And kind of a hermit. But also that that you're super creative. She...said you'd let me see some of your paintings?"

Devi chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Oh, let me think..." Devi counted out in her head. "We knew each other for about ten years; she worked in a coffee shop on campus where I went to college." The art degree she'd gotten was _not_ worth the loans she was still paying off. "We started dating...four years later? That's around when we got this apartment."

"That's cool. I'm happy for you two." Todd looked like he was going to say more, but right then Tenna called "What do you think about jalapenos?"

"That's fine!" called Todd. That was a good sign; he liked spicy food, too. He and Tenna would get along just fine. 

The pizza came about fifteen minutes later. Soon all three of them were sitting on the couch and eating the jalapeno, pepperoni, and sausage pizza. The cheese was light and the sauce was plentiful, just the way Devi liked it. "So," she said sometime around her second slice, "any particular reason you were...how'd you put it, Tenna?...'Sleeping on the bench like a hobo'?"

Todd stopped eating, tentative smile now completely gone. "It's...kind of a long story. You probably won't believe me..." 

Devi couldn't stop herself from thinking about Sickness and her late neighbor's psychic fat. "You'd be surprised, Kid. Try me." 

"I spent the last six years in a psych ward." 

That statement was nearly enough to make Devi and Tenna drop their pizza. 

"Don't worry...I'm not dangerous. See, I got abducted by aliens. Or...I thought I did. My dad didn't believe me, though. So." He shrugged. 

" _That_ was his solution?" exclaimed Tenna, who looked just as affronted as Devi currently felt. "That's horrible!" 

"Yeah." Todd gave a forced laugh. "When I got out, my parents weren't there to pick me up. I hitchhiked over to their house...Mom was so funny, she pretended she didn't even notice I was gone. And Dad..." Todd sighed. "He said I should have _stayed_ gone." 

Devi could see Tenna tearing up. She saw the oncoming hug before Todd did, and to her lack of surprise, the poor kid didn't look like he knew how to deal with the other woman's arms so tight around his shoulders. 

"Jesus, Kid..." Devi wanted to run a hand through her dyed green undercut. She didn't, though; her hands were still greasy from the pizza. 

"I...guess? I'm kinda used to it." Devi didn't have to look at Tenna's face to know that her lower lip was quivering. 

"Well...you shouldn't be." _Understatement of the fucking century,_ Devi thought. _What the Fuck?_ _A homeless teenager on my couch is one thing. But a_ traumatized _one? I can't even handle my_ own _trauma.._. "This place isn't the Ritz, honestly. But we have heat and water; you'll be safe here." 

"Super safe," Tenna agreed, burying her face in Todd's neck. "The safest. We promise." 

_Well, maybe not the_ safest, Devi thought of protesting. But for now, the poor kid had a roof over his head.

Todd was smiling again. Devi decided that she'd very much like to see that smile again. "Thanks, you guys. I can get a job; I'll do housework and...stuff. I promise." 

"We can hash that stuff out later," Devi assured him. 

The rest of the evening was considerably less eventful. Devi and Tenna set Todd up on the pullout couch, telling him that he could help himself to anything in the fridge and watch whatever he wanted on TV provided he keep the volume low, but to stay out of their room and Devi's art room. Devi figured the kid would listen; she didn't really get a 'disobedient' vibe from him. 

By the time the two women retired to bed, Devi couldn't remember a time when she'd felt more tired. Still, for whatever strange reason, she couldn't fall asleep. "Tenna?" she murmured. 

"Mm-hmm?"

"I decided. The kid's staying." 

Tenna giggled into her neck. "I knew it. You're so harsh all the time, but deep down you're a big softy." 

Devi rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, yeah." She sighed as Tenna cuddled further into her side, draping an arm over her stomach. "You know I never wanted kids, but a troubled teen on the couch...I think I can deal with that. It's not gonna be easy, though; the kid's still got to go to school. And I'm pretty sure he still needs therapy...I mean, Christ, that poor kid..." She suspected it was a good thing that she didn't know where his parents lived; she'd drive over with the metal bat she kept around for protection. _Thanks, Nny,_ she thought sarcastically.

"Yeah, that's all true. But we'll deal with it as it comes!" Tenna kissed Devi's cheek, and the tender gesture made her melt a little inside. 

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Worries soothed for the time being, Devi drifted off to sleep, ready to confront whatever tomorrow held.


End file.
